Fast action on the deep flats continues in Sarasota, Fl
Capt. Jim Klopfer
August 13, 2016
Sarasota - Saltwater Fishing Report
Fishing was good once again this week on the deep grass flats near Bird Key and New Pass, with action picking up to VERY good on Thursday and Friday. Bait was easy to catch, with most of it being good sized pilchards, and was used to catch all of the fish on charters this week. Chumming with live bait on the deep grass in 6' to 8' at the Middlegrounds, Radio Tower, Bird Key, and Marker # 5 flats provided good action on a variety of species. Clients landed speckled trout to 24", bluefish to 3 pounds, mangrove and mutton snapper, gag grouper, flounder, jack crevelle, ladyfish, small sharks, and more this week. I also did a little snook fishing in Robert's Bay, catching a few "schoolie" snook and jacks under docks.
I started off my week on Monday with Bob Siemering from Boston, MA and his sons Joe, Michael, and Tom. The weather was threatening but we gave it a go and were rewarded with steady action on speckled trout to 19", snapper to 12", grouper, jacks, flounder, and ladyfish using live bait near New Pass. Tuesday's forecast was poor so I did not schedule a trip.
Venice, FL resident Scott Severson had a good charter on Wednesday. The bite was steady throughout the morning, but not crazy. Scott did not catch huge numbers, but the quality was there with several speckled trout in the 20" to 23" range.
Fishing was excellent on Thursday morning for Washington D.C. resident David Daniel and his 13 year old son Jacob. I caught bait, which was a bit tougher in the stained water, then moved to the Radio Tower. Action was steady on trout and snapper for a bit, but the cormorants were causing us problems. I was making a move when I saw some breaking fish, eased over and anchored in front of them. For the next hour and a half it was pretty much a bite on every cast with speckled trout, bluefish, jacks, snapper, and ladyfish keeping me hopping. We finished up in Robert's Bay with a couple of small snook.
The bite was hot once again on Friday for Shannon McLaughlin from Cincinnati, OH, her husband Tim, and son Nick. Nick caught an estimated 50 fish including a half dozen nice trout in the 18" to 24" range, along with quite a few other species. Shannon and Tim pitched in with another 30 or so, Shannon mostly took pictures. In all 11 different species were landed including speckled trout, gag grouper, bluefish, mangrove and mutton snapper, gag grouper, jack crevelle, flounder, sail and hardhead cats, ladyfish, and more. The flats near Bird Key were the best spots.
Fishing was steady on Saturday, but not as fast as the previous couple of days, I just could not get one of those crazy rallies going. Mangrove snapper lead the list as quite a few decent ones were caught along with trout, jacks, ladyfish, and a shark.
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